Judge lets portion of Lauren Spierer wrongful death lawsuit go forward

A judge has ruled that part of the wrongful death lawsuit issued by Lauren Spierer’s parents can go forward.

The ruling was filed Monday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana. Robert and Charlene Spierer, Greenburgh, N.Y., have argued in their negligence lawsuit, filed in June, that three men who were with the Indiana University student on the night she disappeared in 2011 had owed their daughter a “duty of care.”

In the ruling filed Monday, Judge Tanya Walton Pratt upheld the motion by the defendants to dismiss one count of the Spierers’ complaint brought under the Child Wrongful Death Statute and claiming “loss of a child’s services.” The judge said the count was dismissed because Spierers’ parents alleged in their complaint that their daughter was an adult when she disappeared.

The judge will allow two other counts in the complaint to go forward, based on the Spierers’ allegations that Jason Rosenbaum and Corey Rossman gave Lauren Spierer alcohol while knowing she was already intoxicated.

Those counts of the lawsuit accuse Rosenbaum and Rossman with “negligence per se” and “dram shop,” a legal term used when damages are sought for providing alcohol to someone who is clearly intoxicated. The Indiana Dram Shop Act imposes liability on a person for any damages caused if that person knowingly provides alcohol to someone who is already intoxicated.

Earlier this month, the judge threw out the negligence lawsuit against a third individual, Michael Beth, who was also seen with Spierer the night she disappeared. In that ruling, Pratt agreed with the argument from Beth’s lawyer that Beth wasn’t liable just because he saw Spierer while she was intoxicated. Pratt also said Spierer had her own responsibility to take care of herself.

Spierer disappeared in the early-morning hours of June 3, 2011, after she was seen partying in Bloomington with her fellow students at their apartments and at Kilroy’s, a local sports bar.

Her disappearance remains under investigation.

Star reporters Jill Disis and Tim Evans contributed to this story. Call Star reporter Michael Boren at (317) 444-6138. Follow him on Twitter: @borenmc.